New food labels could be coming soon from FDA

While some of the specifics of food labels can be debated and changed as different dangerous elements are discovered, there are few moments when major sweeping changes occur. One of those seems to be upon us, as the FDA has announced it will be reformulating the classic nutrition labels in an effort to make them easier for consumers to decipher.

According to the Washington Post, the agency has submitted proposals for a new approach to these labels which would theoretically make them more specific and better-tuned to the realities of food production today.

It would do this by identifying things like the particular types of fats and sugars seen in food, and perhaps also point out what percentage of the contents are unnatural, although this is more of a hope from pro-nutrition lobbyists than a certainty. But calories and serving sizes will be updated to account for the increased number of consumers who are paying more attention to these labels.

Bloomberg’s coverage seemed to focus on the fact that this is a historic amount of revision in the context of the agency’s work throughout the years. It quotes a scientific officer from a food consultancy named Robert Post on how it was high time for this.

“We know that the quantities of food, the sizes of packages, and the actual amounts people are eating have changed in the last 20 years so it’s about time that we recognize we need new food intake data to work with,” he said.

Your label printer will need to be able to accommodate these changes.